
Year: 2015
Rated PG
Rating: * * * Stars
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon
With his unique way of slipping into roles like some confident chameleon, you might as well belly up and call Joseph Gordon-Levitt a full-blown movie star. He can headline anything that an a-lister takes on. Whether he's imitating Bruce Willis (Looper), playing a likable muscle head (Don Jon), or just slinging high stakes at poker (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), this once adorable child actor is now the real deal. Bring on Snowden even if it is in delayed release.
Anyway, if you are afraid of heights, it might be difficult to watch certain portions or especially the last bit of his 2015 release, The Walk (my latest review). This film is based on the true story of Philippe Petit, a high-wire artist who caught the world's attention sauntering across the Twin Towers (of the World Trade Center). Directed by special effects maestro Robert Zemeckis, "Walk" has Petit (played with heavy discipline and a broad French accent by Gordon-Levitt) traveling 140 feet on a thick, heavy cable. It's a moment that you need to see to believe.
Zemeckis nurturing the concept of 3D on his mind, shoots The Walk as if he's revisiting his own Forrest Gump (1994's Best Picture winner). Tom Hanks sat on a bench and narrated most of that epic in flashback. Here, Gordon-Levitt does the same thing but from high atop the Statue of Liberty. The difference between the two films is simple: "Gump" is more Homeric with storytelling that's not negligible. "Walk" isn't plotless yet not enough seems at stake. The trailer looked mighty compelling. The end result is breezy and almost comical in nature.


Written by Jesse Burleson
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